Terminator Dark Fate left me feeling pretty excited when I first saw the trailer for it as I’m a huge fan of the Terminator movies and I’m always up for more Terminator as any good fan of any franchise would attest to.
We were told that this movie is the official third movie and that Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines, Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genysis should be forgotten about as this will be the definitive end to the saga.
With this in mind we went to the cinema and hoped for the best and was looking forward to seeing Terminator Dark Fate.
Would it be awesome or would it be a lame duck? Well, read on and find out on our review.
Spoilers are kept to a minimum as well.
Terminator Dark Fate
Arnie’s back as the T-800, Linda Hamilton too as the Skynet huntress Sarah Connor, a new kind of liquid metal and endo-skeleton based Terminator and a super strong human both being sent back in time to kill and protect a young headstrong Mexican girl respectively who is pivotal to the future resistance.
It all sounds good, however, the movie feels like a sanitised version of the franchise many of us grew up with.
Gone is the Rock & Roll rebellion and fast pace that came with T2 or the edgy and dark suspense that came with the 1984 original.
Instead feels like it’s been replaced with a softer, sensitive edge that will leave many a fan feeling mightily disappointed.
It Just Feels Empty
If this was a standalone action movie it would be one that you’d probably watch while late night channel hopping but this is Terminator, expectations are and always will be high and it doesn’t deliver anything of substance at all.
Arnie’s part in the movie feels minor and pointless, Sarah Connor is the only real reference to the gung-ho past of the series and feels like a relic who doesn’t fit in with a more sensitive world of 2019.
She says MotherF*@ker a lot and this is what probably gave it the 15 rating but the movie could have easily been a 12a.
Overall the plot doesn’t bring anything new that’s worth remembering.
Even the new ‘twists’ are nothing special and the action is broken up with big chunks of not a lot happening moments.
Future Scenes
The flashbacks (or flash forwards) to the future which have always been amazing in all other Terminator movies are boring with the exception of the first one in the movie.
You’ll understand when you see the very short scene at the start and then subsequent ones thereafter.
Missed Opportunity
Terminator Dark Fate is a missed opportunity to give a proper farewell for fans of the franchise.
The action scenes are OK when not shrouded in near total darkness which were hard to see or keep interested in as you squint to see what’s going on.
They are nothing compared to all of the other Terminator movies, including all the ones that aren’t cannon anymore.
The characters including the baddy Terminator are just forgettable too.
WTF Moments
There are moments where your mouth will drop open at what you are hearing and you’ll either burst out laughing and be entertained or a part of you and the years you invested in the franchise will die in you whilst muttering WTF!
Overall if you’re a fan you’ll watch it because you have to, it’s Terminator but don’t expect it to leave any kind of impact on you as the previous movies did.
Terminator Dark Fate is more of the same but with less of everything that made the Terminator movies so good at the same time.
Terminator Dark Fate could have gone out with a bang and a honking great big mushroom cloud, you know, one that would have given closure to a fine franchise that fans have lapped up for years.
Instead it’s more of a fizzle and puff of smoke and that’s a huge shame.
Your Views?
Have you seen Terminator Dark Fate? What did you think of it? Did you love it or hate it? Let’s us know in the comments below and share your review of it.
